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Thursday, November 30, 2006

I have actually simplified my scanning process, and I now only use Trade-Ideas. Here are the details of what I do:

I configure two "Alert Windows" - one window for stocks below $50, and one window for stocks above $50. For the below $50 window, I set the parameters to find Gaps Up and Gaps Down of 2% minimum, and Average Daily Volume of 100,000 minimum. For the above $50 window, I set the parameters to find Gaps Up and Gaps Down of 1% minimum, and Average Daily Volume of 100,000 minimum.

At 9:45 EST (15 minutes after the market opens), I open the "Alert Windows" and click the "History" link. Trade-Ideas then lists all of the stocks that meet that criteria for the morning. I do an export to Excel, and plug the stocks into my watchlist; it is fast and easy.

I have to stress, I am using Trade-Ideas in a VERY limited way. I am probably using 1/10 of 1% of the functionality their software encompasses. I said earlier this year:

"[Trade-Ideas has] a quality product, and I have had fun experimenting with it. The bottom-line is that you can find results for just about any parameters you can imagine using their software."

I encourage you guys to try it out and see if it is a fit for you. Sign-up via this link and see what you think.

Yes, sorted by volume in real-time so it is constantly updating. There are usually several 100 in the list, but I tend to focus on the top 20-30. If I have time, or cannot find anything, I may go deeper into the list.

Another method is to have two lists - one NASDAQ and one NYSE, and focus on the top 20 or so on each list.

I also use an additional criteria of "Min Volume Today" is 75,000 shares, since I like the see at least 100K shares traded in the first 30 minutes. Again, I run this scan at 9:50am, so I'd reduce it a bit if I were to run it at 9:45am.

I'm still debating if I should subscribe to Trade-Ideas (I've had a month long trial but it expires in a few days). Since you are now using it as your solitary scan source, it's obviously worked out well for you. I've really enjoyed using it and it's very reliable (unlike Prophet.net or Quote.com). However, it is kind of pricey (and for good reason, as it's an extremely powerful tool...just not sure if I'll ever use it for more than simple Gap scanning).

Since I sort my watchlist by current volume, I tend to get into pretty liquid stocks. If the spread is wide, I usually pass. On average, I would say I don't trade stocks with under 750K-1M in volume for the day just because I sort my watchlist by volume.

Just download, open the file, enable the Macros and follow the directions. It's just a Macro to automatically use the built in advanced filter, allowing only unique results. If you really want to, you can do this manually in Excel by clicking Data--> Filter--> Advanced Filter and going through the GUI.

FYI, Scottrade has Trade Ideas for free. $7 commission per trade. I have a few scans but I usually work off of high beta Industry Watchlists, like steel, oil, builders, commodities, airlines, exchanges, nazdaq/tech for group movement.

DISCLAIMER - I DO NOT MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS TO BUY OR SELL SECURITIES; I JUST POST MY THOUGHTS, TRADES, AND OPINIONS. DO YOUR OWN DUE DILIGENCE - YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR TRADES, INVESTMENTS, AND DECISIONS. ALL CHARTS ARE COURTESY OF REALTICK. ALL TIMES INDICATED ARE NY (EST).